1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical connectors and, particularly, to an optical connector capable of incorporating a damping or filtering element.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to provide an optical connector with a damping or filtering function, it has been necessary to connect a separate damper or filter to the optical connector. The damper or filter is connected between the optical connector and an adapter, etc., to damp an optical signal or filter an optical signal of a predetermined frequency to the equipment.
However, these conventional systems increase the distance between the optical connector and the adapter, resulting in the large systems. In addition, in order to be connected to the optical connector, the damper or filter must have the same opening as that of the adapter for receiving the optical connector. Consequently, it must have a sufficiently thick wall to form such an opening so that it has been impossible to mount a plurality of optical connectors closer than the wall thickness. Consequently, the mount density that a plurality of optical connectors with a damper or filter are mounted has been low.
Since a separate damper or filter must be added, the number of components becomes larger than that of the ordinary optical connector. The ferrules or optical fibers of optical connectors are worn out by abutting against mating optical connectors, but it has been impossible to replace the worn ferrules or optical fibers because they are fixed to the optical connectors. As the optical connectors are made smaller, there has been a damned for an optical connector having higher mechanical strength and electromagnetic interference protection.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an optical connector which is made compact by incorporating a damping or filtering element and is able to be mounted in a large number closely to each other, thereby increasing the mounting density. In addition, the addition of the damping or filtering function is made by not increasing very much the number of components. Moreover, it is still another object of the invention to provide an optical connector that the worn ferrule or optical fiber can be replaced. It is yet another object of the invention to provide an optical connector which has satisfactory mechanical strength and a housing jacket resistant against electromagnetic interference.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an optical connector comprising a housing; a first ferrule section for holding a first optical member; a second ferrule section for holding a second optical member; and an aligning member for detachably aligning said first and second ferrule sections within said housing.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the aligning member takes a form of sleeve.
According to another embodiment of the invention, at least one of said first and second optical members has a damping function.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, at least one of said first and second optical members has a filtering function.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, at least one of said first and second optical members is an ordinary optical fiber.
According to another embodiment of the invention, said housing is detachable from said second ferrule section.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, wherein said housing is connected to said second ferrule section by means of a bayonet joint.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, said housing is made by magnesium injection molding.